How Much Does it Cost to Travel Around the World – March 2012 summary

March was a wonderful end to our 6 months in Thailand, and 18 months on the road. We launched Betsy’s book, Strip Off Your Fear (don’t be shy go grab a copy for you, your mom, and a friend) which was a tremendous way to end our time here and was the primary reason for our stay in one place for so long. It feels great to have been able to get this message out to the world and we’ve been overwhelmed with the reaction and sales to date.

From a spending perspective this month was significantly higher ($2,314) than all our previous months in Thailand, though still well below our overall budget of $3000/month. The reasons for this spike in expenses was primarily due to fun. That’s right, we had fun this month. We enjoyed some of the sights and experiences we’d put off since arriving. We spent an amazing day at the Elephant Nature Park hanging out with 30+ beautiful creatures and getting our hands dirty as we fed them.In addition, we spent a day at a Thai cooking class in order to add some new recipes to our repertoire. For just $55 for us both it was an easy investment and a day we will not forget given how much fun we had with the restaurant owner. Oh, and massages. Wonderful and relaxing massages.

The other hit to the budget was our much delayed (ok, pushed out) visits to the dentist. After 18 months on the road it was time to head back in and get the teeth cleaned, polished and camera ready. In the end both visits to the dentist, including some minor work, ended up costing just $216, which is a far cry from the huge bill we’d have seen in the US.

Let’s Get to the Numbers

• Total spending to date (for entire trip) through March 2012: $34,816
• Total spending for March 2012: $2,314
• Daily average for March 2012: $75
• Overall daily average (18 months on the road): $63.65

Expense Breakdown:

Frequently Asked Questions:

Over the last 18 months of monthly spending reports, we’ve received a lot of questions and requests for clarification on our spending and finances. In order to spread the answers to more of you we’ll start including some of them each month here.

Is your spending breakdown for 1 person or for both of you?

All of our spending figures represent the total spending for 2 amazingly happy people living their dream. We travel as a couple and keep track of all our expenses together, as trying to separate them would simply be too big of a pain. Any expenses we encounter, whether individually or together, are included in our expense totals for this happy couple.